It Started With a Kiss
by averygirl
Summary: It all started with an impulsive kiss on New Year's Eve... A Steffy Forrester and Carter Walton story.
1. Chapter 1

**It Started With a Kiss**

(Kristie's Steffy/Carter story made me a BIG fan of these two so I thought I'd try writing them myself. Happy reading!)

**Chapter 1**

_**New Year's Eve 2014**_

"_The ball drops in exactly five minutes!"_ DJ Othello Clark announced from the stage at Bikini. His left arm was looped around the itty-bitty waist of a model named Coco and he was smiling at her as he talked into the microphone. "Time for you all to link up with that special someone and ring in the New Year right … _I want to see smooches all around!"_

A round of applause and hoots followed his announcement. Steffy Forrester just rolled her eyes as she spotted her Aunt Pam and Pam's goofy boyfriend Charlie begin to loudly smack lips not two feet away from her. All around her, people were knotted together in twos, drunk on pina coladas and love, or more likely, lust.

Steffy groaned. There was no way in hell that she was she going to stand around watching as people coupled up all around her. That would be pathetic and Steffy Forrester did not _do_ pathetic.

Nor truthfully, did she run away, but that was her only course of action right now. She was not going to be the sole person here unattached when midnight came.

She set down the sticky tumbler she had been absent-mindedly sipping from and jostled her way towards the nearest exit. She was almost there when she heard a familiar Australian-accented voice calling her name. _"Steffy!_ Steffy, wait up. I can't run in these heels!"

Steffy slowed to a stop with her tiny hand on the door handle. "Ivy, I've got to go."

"Oh no, no, you don't. Midnight is in two minutes and you have to be here to see the ball drop on the telly."

"I have seen it do that many times before. It's no big deal. Besides, it's getting warm in here. I need some fresh air."

_"Bullocks_… Honestly though. I never thought I'd see the day where my cousin ran away from anything."

"I'm not running away."

Ivy crossed her impossibly tan arms. "Sure, you're not. I knew from the moment I asked you to tag-along that you didn't want to come. I was just hoping a fun atmosphere would cheer you up."

Steffy shook her head. "I'm fine. Really."

"So tell me that you're not still bumming out over Liam running off to parts unknown with that … that blonde."

Steffy shrugged. "It's fine. I've moved on… What about you?"

Ivy waved her hand. "I never had Liam anyway… And for the record, Liam can have Hope and she can have him. Let them make each other miserable, I say."

"I'll drink to that."

"Yes, please let's have another drink. We'll be the two hot single ladies who don't need to kiss anyone to prove something."

Steffy shrugged. "Fine."

"I'll go get us some drinks. Stay right here where I can find you in this mess of people."

Steffy nodded. "Alright."

She watched Ivy meld into the crowd as she leaned against the cool glass of the door, watching the bright stars twinkling in the Los Angeles sky. Stars even looked different in California, she mused, suddenly missing Paris. What had she been thinking trying to come back here and start fresh? She was always going to be haunted by the memories of what could have been. She and Liam had been to Bikini together plenty of times - times when she actually thought she would get a happy ending. That she deserved one…

She sighed. Shaking her head, she turned to peer back through the crowd. Ivy was nowhere to be found. Othello announced that there was a minute until midnight and then all "the smooches can begin". She rolled her eyes and started pushing through the crowd to find Ivy.

Just as the countdown from ten seconds began, Steffy spotted Ivy. She started to call out her cousin's name but stopped when she realized that Ivy was now enmeshed in an embrace with none other than that Wyatt guy. Hope's husband. Or ex-husband. Whatever. It didn't matter now did it? But at least Ivy looked happy. She was nose-to-nose with Wyatt.

"_Three …"_ The crowd chanted.

Steffy looked for a way out. She turned and shoved her way back through the crowd.

"_Two…"_

She had to get out of here. Seeing all these happy, pretty people locking lips would make her throw up the shrimp she had nibbled on awhile ago.

"_One …"_

"Shit!" she spat as the sound of horns and whistles and fireworks started exploding all around her.

Every which way she turned; people were ducking their heads to kiss someone. Some were even kissing two or three persons! Steffy was the odd woman out. She hated it, she despised it, she –

_Wait!_

She spotted a single man. He loomed in a nearby doorway, looking like a handsome, mocha-skinned giant. He also appeared to be as shell-shocked as she felt.

She stopped thinking in that moment and just _did_. She strode quickly to him, grabbed his face between her hands, and yanked his head down to hers. Then she kissed him flush on the mouth as lights popped wildly before her eyes.

_**A/N: Let me know if this is worth continuing.**_


	2. Chapter 2

_**For the purposes of this story, Carter and Steffy haven't officially met before the whole kiss in chapter one!**_

**Chapter 2**

Bright lights – reds, yellows, greens, purples; actually, every shade from the whole damn color spectrum – continued popping before her eyes. Fireworks were going off everywhere and a loud, hot roar was in her ears… But whether it only existed inside of her head, she couldn't be sure.

His big hands tangled in her long hair as she pressed up against his impossibly hard chest. It was a good kiss. A damn good kiss. She didn't want it to end but breathing all too soon became a severe necessity.

Steffy finally stepped back and looked up at him. He was a very beautiful man. His dark eyes appeared hooded and smoky as he returned her gaze. Her hand found its way to her lips. They were impossibly swollen and bruised now – but not in a bad way.

He spoke up first and she was glad. At the moment, she was damn near speechless.

He sounded a little breathless to her ears. "That was – it was…"

"It was something," Steffy replied, finally finding words. "I am sure that you didn't expect some random woman to just grab you that way-"

He held up a hand. "Hey, I'm _not_ complaining here. You just took me by surprise."

"That makes two of us," Steffy admitted. She felt his eyes tracing the contours of her face, her lips… then slowly trailing down to sweep over her body which she knew was showcased to perfection in the purple, crushed velvet dress that she wore. His eyes roved over her a second more and it was all she could do not to blush. She did _not_ blush, but the way he was looking at her… Oh damn…

When he met her eyes again, she smiled a bit. A saucy little retort came to sit heavy on her tongue but was immediately squelched as Ivy came hurrying over with Wyatt at her side.

"Ohmigod, I'm sorry! I just got a tad bit-" Ivy broke off as she blushed, sneaking a peek at Wyatt – "um…"

"It's okay, Ivy. You got distracted. It happens sometimes," Steffy said, giving her nameless romancer a pointed look under her eyelashes.

Ivy caught the look passing between them. "Ohmigod! So you were the duo smashed up against the door!"

Wyatt smiled, Steffy thought, a bit approvingly. "Hmm …"

Ivy grinned. "Carter, had you met Steffy before you two – uh…"

"Kissed," Wyatt put in.

Steffy's smooch-mate lifted an eyebrow. "Wait – you're – you're Steffy Forrester?"

"The one and only," Steffy said. "Is that a problem?"

"Not at all," Carter said. "It's just a small world. I work at your family's company."

"What as - a model?" Steffy instinctively teased.

"Believe it or not, sometimes that too." Carter admitted it sheepishly as he rubbed the back of his neck. "Mostly though, I'm the legal counsel."

"Well things certainly have changed a lot since I left L.A. last time," Steffy mused.

Ivy grinned. "I think an official introduction is in order here. Steffy, my dear; meet Carter, Carter Walton."

Steffy smiled and proffered her hand. It seemed silly to shake hands after they had already locked lips but she willing to be a sport.

Carter didn't shake her hand though. Instead, he placed a soft kiss to the back of her wrist. She tried to remain unaffected but wasn't sure that she succeeded.

"Carter Walton… Wait, Walton, you and Marcus –"

"Are adoptive brothers," Carter said with a nod.

Steffy chuckled in spite of herself. "It _is_ a small world."

Ivy smiled at Steffy and then turned to address Wyatt and Carter. "Um, you know, guys… The night is still pretty young... What do you say we all go somewhere and just well, hang out?"

"Hang out?" Steffy mouthed at Ivy.

Ivy waved her hand. "Yes, hang out… Are you game, gentlemen? How about you, Steffy?"

"I'd like that," Wyatt said. He looked at Ivy under his eyelashes as he rocked back and forth on his heels. Steffy could tell that he was anxious but excited too. Steffy actually felt the same way.

"I'm game, if Steffy's okay with it," Carter said. "Do you mind if I tag along?"

"No, of course not," Steffy said. "Just let my cousin and I here go find our jackets and we'll meet you at the front entrance, okay?"

"Okay," Carter and Wyatt agreed.

Steffy felt the guys' eyes following her and Ivy as they weaved their way through the crowd.

"You didn't bring a jacket," Ivy said. "This was just an excuse to talk."

"Of course." Steffy tucked her arm through Ivy's. "What was that all about anyway?"

"What – you mean me kissing Wyatt?"

"Well, since you mentioned it…"

Ivy blushed furiously. "Oh I know! It was terribly impulsive and reckless and –"

Steffy smiled. "Well, at least tell me this… Is he a good kisser?"

Ivy laughed. "I don't kiss and tell…"

"Come on. Share and share alike."

"Alright. Fair enough," Ivy said. Her beautiful face lit up. "It was pretty … God, Stef, it was steamy. Unexpected and probably a really bad course of action, but still highly enjoyable. He kisses better than … well, never mind… So you were saying about you and Carter…"

Steffy grazed her bee-stung lips with her fingers. "The kiss was unexpected, impulsive, reckless… All the things you said your kiss with Wyatt was –"

"_And?"_

"And it was nice."

"Just nice?"

"Hot, okay? Very hot."

Ivy smirked. "So are you glad I dragged you to this party after all?"

"I suppose so."

"What do you mean you 'suppose so'?"

"I'm totally not ready for anything serious."

"You don't have to be, Steffy. I'm not. Wyatt's certainly not, and I doubt Carter is ready to propose marriage to you or anyone else right now either."

Steffy sighed. "Well, what's Carter really like? I don't know a damn thing about him other than that he's tall, dark, and dangerously handsome. Oh and that he's a lawyer at Forrester and my ex's brother."

"You and Marcus – wait, Eric's adoptive _son?"_

"Yes…"

"Los Angeles really _is_ a frighteningly small and incestuous little place."

"You have no idea," Steffy muttered.

"Well, what do you want to know about Carter?" Ivy asked as they reached the coat check desk to retrieve her jacket. "Look, I can tell you this much. He's a really good guy, and of course, so easy on the eyes. I'll be honest here though. He's had a very rough year too. His ex, Maya, totally broke his heart and –"

"Wait, Maya? The same Maya Rick was parading around at the family get-together on Christmas?"

"Yes. Isn't the world getting smaller by the second?"

"Yes! But why the hell would Maya dump hot Carter for a little gnat like Rick?"

Ivy shrugged. "What's that little American expression? _Money talks?"_

"So she's a gold-digger."

"Your words…"

"Damn. And I wanted to like her too, just because she wasn't Caroline. Caroline really butchered Thomas's heart, you know, and I will hate her for the rest of my life for it."

"Butchered hearts are everywhere these days." Ivy sighed. She shook her head and then offered a smile. "But I will tell you this much. I'll take a little joy wherever I can find it."

Steffy looked towards Carter. He met her eyes as he walked past with Wyatt. He offered her a bright smile and she found herself smiling back before turning to face Ivy. "You're right," she said. "I mean I'm not going to actually fall in love with some guy who's rebounding from a nasty breakup… but I guess I can still have some fun."

"I am glad to hear you say that," Ivy said. "Just be your fearless, beautiful self, and the rest of the night will go swimmingly."

"What do you have in mind for all of us anyway?"

Ivy winked at her. "You'll see… Now come on. Let's go!"


End file.
